Plane crash survivor returns to basketball court

FILE - Loyola High School senior Austin Hatch, left, thanks his school basketball trainer, Rasheed Hazzard, after a news confence at the Loyola High School campus in Los Angeles Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013. Over the past decade, Hatch survived two plane crashes that killed his entire immediate family. He persevered through those tragedies with help from basketball, and he'll play at Michigan next year. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
(Photo: Damian Dovarganes)

Austin Hatch made a memorable return to the basketball court Wednesday night.

Hatch, a Michigan recruit and former Fort Wayne Canterbury star, made his first appearance in a game since surviving a plane crash in June 2011 that killed his father and stepmother. Hatch transferred to Loyola (Calif.) High School prior to his senior year to be closer to his uncle.

In the fourth quarter of Loyola’s 87-59 win over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Hatch worked to get open and fired a 3-pointer from the right wing. Swish.

Loyola’s players and coaches bolted off the bench to mob Hatch, picking up a technical foul in the process.

“It was the best technical foul I’ve ever been a part of,” Loyola coach Jamal Adams told the Los Angeles Times after the game.

Hatch, who also survived a plane crash in 2003 that killed his mother and two siblings, was placed in a medically-induced coma for two months following the most-recent crash. He told reporters during a news conference in November that when we woke up from the coma, “I had no idea where I was.”

“I had no idea what year it was or anything,” Hatch said at the time. “It was almost like I was just born.”

Michigan coach John Beilein has been steadfast since the accident that the school will honor Hatch’s scholarship, whether or not he’s able to play. Hatch told reporters in November that he wasn’t yet ready to play, but got his first taste of game action Wednesday.

“He hit a 3 and our bench erupted,” Adams said. “It was unbelievable what that kid has gone through and how hard he’s worked. That kid has taught me you can come back from anything, that nothing is impossible. It was a spiritual moment.”

Hatch tweeted after the game: “As I said after the game, my three was pretty cool, but, more importantly, we’re now 14-0.”

Dillard update

Bowman Academy junior Davon Dillard made an unofficial visit to Purdue last week for the Ohio State game and remains a top target for the Boilermakers in the 2015 class.

“Even though they lost, they played hard,” Dillard said of Purdue. “They still have a team that is coming up and learning.”

The 6-5 Dillard, who is ranked as the No. 112 prospect in the class nationally by Rivals.com, is averaging 14.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.4 steals this season. He scored 27 points in Bowman’s 96-84 win over Proviso East (Ill.) at Tech on Saturday, including three sensational dunks.

Dillard said Creighton has been recruiting him the hardest recently. He also visited Michigan State for its game against North Carolina in early December. Other schools that have been in contact are Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee, Marquette, DePaul, Florida, Florida State, Miami (Fla.) and North Carolina State.

McDonald’s nominees

Marion’s James Blackmon Jr., Park Tudor’s Trevon Bluiett and Tech’s Trey Lyles have been nominated for the 2014 McDonald’s All-American Game. On the girls side, Logansport’s Whitney Jennings and Bloomington South’s Lauren Whitlatch were the nominees from Indiana. The team will be announced on Jan. 29.